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4 week old. OALD or undersupply?

I've totally messed up my supply and would be grateful for any help. On his 3rd night home his poop was green which sent me off googling and I thought it was a foremilk hindmilk imbalance and I started block-feeding. My first mistake. Looking back I realise that made my supply go down. I mistook his fussiness for overactive letdown and saw a LC. As luck would have it he fed peacefully in front of her, she had a look at the latch, saw he was gaining well and just suggested to fed reclining and carry on block-feeding. But things got worse. Another LC thinks he's frustrated by undersupply and has me on fenugreek and switch-feeding. My supply definitely feels low mid-morning and late in the evening. I've only been taking the fenugreek for a day, switch-nursing for 3 days. This morning he pulled away screeching almost as soon as he started feeding. We tried a few times and after a while he seemed afraid to suck. I'm not sure who to believe now. Could he be that frustrated by slow flow? If it's not undersupply can the effect of fenugreek be undone? I've started getting nervous about feeding him as I really don't want to give up or try pumping excusively unless absolutely necessary but I don 't want to traumatise either him and spend the first few months of his life in a battle at the breast. What I'd really like to know is what does OALD look like? When I take him off should it keep spraying? It doesn't. If I express by hand should it look extreme?

Re: 4 week old. OALD or undersupply?

Oversupply and OALD can be kind of tricky. For some moms, it's obvious. Their milk sprays everywhere when the baby comes off the breast, the baby is obviously struggling with the fast flow (gulping, gagging, coughing, choking, spluttering), the baby h lots of green poops, and the mom feels full or engorged all the time. But when oversupply/OALD is milder, it can be really hard to figure out how mismatched supply and demand really are, and if so, how much they bother the baby.

In order to diagnose OS/OALD, I would want to see most or all of the following:
- Baby bothered when milk lets down- choking, gasping, gagging, clicking, etc.
- Milk sprays or squirts from the breast when baby pulls off
- Mom able to express multiple oz with ease (there's no hard number here, but let's say 3 or more oz from one breast in under 10 minutes, though what sort of pump you use is going to matter a lot!)
- Mom frequently feels engorged, leaks often
- Baby's poops consistently green or greenish

Do not freak out, mama! If this is oversupply, it's fixable. If this is low supply, it's fixable. And either way, you will not have to exclusively pump in order to avoid months of battles at the breast. Your supply will adjust and your baby will adjust and eventually everything will get better. I promise! I know a lot of moms get into breastfeeding expecting this wonderful experience- mom and baby communing and cuddling in a rosy glow of bliss- and if you stick with it you will get that experience. But not everyone gets it right off the bat. Just because breastfeeding is natural doesn't mean it's easy, and the first few months can be very challenging. But like most challenging things, you and your LO will get better at this and you will be rewarded for your effort!

Re: 4 week old. OALD or undersupply?

I have the same reaction as Mommal. If you have OS or OALD I would expect you, at minimum, wake up feeling pretty full in the mornings (everyone feels empty in the evenings, btw, even people with OS!), and maybe be a little leaky, and when your child fusses at the breast, he sputters, coughs, or lets milk run down his chin. If you're seeing all of that, then it probably is OALD. If not, it doesn't necessarily mean you have low supply, although it could. Fussiness at the breast is really common at this age. If diaper output is good and the baby is gaining, then the fussiness can just be normal, something the baby will grow out of.

Also, don't worry too much about poop color unless EVERY poop is green, frothy, and slimy. The occasional green poop (up to several times a day), with yellow poops the rest of the time, is not worth losing sleep over.

You can call me JoMo!

Mom to baby boy Joe, born 5/4/09 and breastfed for more than two and a half years, and baby girl Maggie, born 7/9/12.

Re: 4 week old. OALD or undersupply?

Just read your other thread. Ugh. My baby "recoiled at the breast" at this age too. It was heartbreaking and HARD. In my case, it was a combo of OALD and colic, and did improve (very slowly) with block feeding. We went on to have a long, snuggly breastfeeding relationship. You can do this. But oh, do I remember that so well. I considered quitting because it just seemed like he hated to breastfeed. So glad I didn't.

You can call me JoMo!

Mom to baby boy Joe, born 5/4/09 and breastfed for more than two and a half years, and baby girl Maggie, born 7/9/12.